US Treasury Sanctions Cyber Scam Networks in Myanmar and Cambodia

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The US Department of the Treasury‘s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on 19 entities in Myanmar and Cambodia as part of a push to break up scam networks. These networks used forced labor to defraud Americans of more than $10 billion in 2024, representing a 66% increase from the year before.

The sanctions specifically target nine entities located in Myanmar, particularly in Shwe Kokko—notorious for digital asset scams—and ten in Cambodia. These networks are accused of running pig butchering scams, which are highly organized frauds that use emotional manipulation to trick victims into sending money. These also often include fake romantic relationships.

The Treasury identified a criminal compound known as Yatai New City in Myanmar, co-built by She Zhijiang and Karen National Army (KNA) leader Saw Chit Thu. OFAC asserts this compound operates with impunity under KNA protection and is used for gambling, drug trafficking, prostitution, and large-scale international cyber fraud.

In Cambodia, the fraud infrastructure is said to be run out of casino complexes in Sihanoukville. Key entities targeted include T C Capital Co. Ltd. and K B Hotel Co. Ltd., which allegedly host compounds where trafficked workers are forced to engage in digital asset scams that defraud US victims.

Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley condemned the operations as not only threats to the financial security of Americans, but as using “modern slavery.”

The scale of the operations shows both the major challenge that faces law enforcement and how important it is to stay vigilant of industrialized fraud.